Louis-félix De La Rue (1730-1777) Banquet Scene, Drawing

Louis-Félix de La Rue (1730-1777) 
A Banquet scene
Pen and black ink, brown ink wash on paper
Diameter 21 cm
In good condition
In a modern frame under glass 30 x 30 cm

Louis Felix de La Rue's distinctive style is still instantly recognisable here. His handwriting is highly distinctive and original. He excels at penmanship and clearly enjoys it
The particular interest of this drawing lies in the richness of detail and the diversity of the characters assembled for this banquet.
The circular format is also highly original, with a perfectly thought-out horizontal composition.
As is usually the case with this artist, the subject remains mysterious. It's clearly a scene of antique banquet and we are in ancient times.It is plausible that, as in many of his works, the subject was carefully chosen because of its rarity, in order to highlight the culture not only of the artist but also of the person for whom the drawing was intended.
In any case, this drawing is an accomplished work, executed with great care.

Louis-Félix de La Rue was born on October 19, 1730 in Paris, where he died on June 24, 1777. He was a draughtsman and sculptor, older brother of Philibert-Benoît de la Rue.
De La Rue was trained in the studio of the celebrated sculptor Lambert-Sigisbert Adam (1700-1759), where he may have met the young Clodion who, although some years Delarue’s junior, also worked under Adam. He won the prix de Rome in 1750 with a bas relief entitled "Abraham rendant grâces à Dieu de la délivrance de son fils" and became pensionnaire of the École royale des élèves protégés between 1752 and 1754. In this role, De La Rue presented a group entitled Bacchante qui enivre des enfants and four bas-reliefs of the Saisons to the king during an exhibition at Versailles in 1754. Before going to Rome in November 1754, he worked under the direction of Jean-Jacques Bachelier at the Manufacture de Vincennes, where he made several groups of frolicking infants, including two presse-papiers models, referred to as ‘plaques à papiers La Rue’. Upon returning to the Académie de France in Rome, of which Natoire was the then director, he was admitted into the Academy of Saint Luke on 13 September 1760. Subsequently, De La Rue was named Professor in 1762. After 1764, De La Rue disappears from the official record and, tragically, is believed to have been plagued by physical frailty and mental illness.